Little did I know that I wasn't actually talking to him, but to his best friend's little brother, Michael Smith. See, John was too shy to talk on the phone, even though he was 21 at the time! I had just turned 25, was in the middle of a divorce and had my two oldest daughters, Tiffany and Stephanie. That didn't deter him one bit though. He decided he wanted to meet me in person, so one day he, Cornelius (his best friend), and Michael came over to play Robotech. Robotech is a role-playing game that I had never played before, I had only played Dungeons and Dragons, but was willing to give it a try. That was a very interesting meeting, John was so quiet when he spoke that I had to ask Michael and Cornelius what he was saying. I know it embarrassed John because his face would turn red. I will always remember that day, it was August 18, 1991.
John and I became really good friends, although I knew at the time that Cornelius didn't like me. I don't think anyone was good enough for his best friend. John was active duty Army, but because he was stationed close to home, he lived at home and spent his down time with the Smith family. He has been best friends with Cornelius since the fourth grade, I say has because they are still best friends to this day.
John fell in love with the girls before he fell in love with me. Whenever he would go off to train or be gone for any length of time, the girls would miss him immensely. I remember one time when he came by for a visit and I opened the door, Stephanie ran up and hugged him around the legs calling him "Daddy!" He said "No, just John!" So for the longest time we called him "Just John" as a joke. He took it good naturedly, as was par for the course with John.
I should have known something was up though, because he started bringing me flowers at work. He would just randomly show up with flowers, candy, a stuffed animal, or all three! My boss loved it, she was a hopeless romantic. She told me I would be stupid to let this guy go. I, of course, knew that already but my divorce wasn't final and wasn't sure what I was going to do. John was sure what he wanted, at least at the moment he was sure.
John decided it was time for me to meet his family. But he didn't bring me home to meet his parents, he brought me to meet the Smith's. In his mind if Smitty and Rosie, Cornelius' parents, approved of me than I was the girl for him. Well, they approved. Rosie and I hit it off right away. The Smiths were foster and adoptive parents of many children, in fact Michael and Cornelius were their only biological children. This is where John had his exposure to young children and why he didn't mind changing diapers when it came to changing Stephanie. I knew I had an exceptional man when he offered to change her the first time, not to mention he would wash dishes for me.
The first time I spoke to his mom, Mary, on the phone I thought she was his sister. In fact, I thought "John didn't tell me he had a younger sister!" He had asked me to call her and let her know he was ok and all was fine while he was out on an extended training in southern California. I guess he wanted me to call because it was really close to his birthday, which is in November. Whatever the reason, it was weird, but I made it through! Mary seemed very nice, but I was more comfortable with Rosie, probably because I had met her in person and spent so much time with her.
Here are some pictures from that time period....
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| Tiffany age 3, Stephanie age 20 months taken in 1991 |
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| John and I Stryker Brigade Valentine's Day Ball 1992 |
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